


Redhead Sandwich

by MaK



Category: Grojband
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-17 07:15:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1378642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaK/pseuds/MaK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corey and Carrie get into one of their regular yelling matches, but when things start to get a little more physical it causes their two redheaded bass players to pay more attention.</p>
<p>Of course, they break up the fight, but for whatever reason the fight is still all they can think about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Corey and Carrie were arguing loudly, waving arms, and stomping feet as their general hatred for one another poured out of their mouths in the form of poor trash talk. The scene was nothing new, the two sets of twins ignoring it, sas were both of their redhead companions. Laney and Larry rolled their eyes and began their own conversation; he mentioned his new bass and Laney was about to go off about the latest craze for the band. Before she could, she had stolen a quick glance at the two guitarists fighting only a few yards away and quickly got Larry to stare at the spectacle, too. Carrie had grabbed Corey by the neck of his shirt and he had a grip on both of her arms; their voices were only getting louder as they got closer and the two bass players felt their faces going red.

"We should, um, stop them?" Larry suggested, his eyes running over the entire scene for a second or third time. He was obviously just as surprised as their closeness as she was.

Laney bit her lip and continued to watch, replying to her friend a minute later with, "Yeah, probably." She'd only really decided to do so because Corey was looking more than ready to hit his female counterpart. She really, really didn't want to break up a fight like that. Especially when she had heard rumors of Carrie's mean left hook.

The two ran in and grabbed their respective leads by the waist, trying to tug the angry teens away from each other. It proved to be harder than it had been before, Corey and Carrie obviously had no intention of stopping their feud without first throwing a punch or landing a kick. It took the help of Kon and Konnie to finally get the two away from each other. Before any further trash could be spoken, Carrie stomped off and Corey did the same in the opposite direction.

Larry looked over at Laney and mouthed, "Whoa." The two were still had heavy blushes on their faces and Laney nodded her head in agreement to his statement. Without another glance or word to each other, they ran off to console their crushes.

With the Newmans, Kim and Konnie were both asking just what happened to get Carrie so riled up. Normally, Kim was trying to explain, the blue haired guitarist was more laid back than what was normal. The twins would have been more than happy to leave their bass player to take care of the rage, but with Carrie's emotions running higher than ever they decided to put their two cents in. The guitarist didn't even reply to them until Larry had caught up and asked, "Are you alright?"

The youngest Beff took a deep breath and seethed, "No! I can't even stand that guy and his stupid, dumb, stupid face!" Carrie was clenching her teeth and Larry looked over at the two twins, raising his eyebrows in confusion. She went on while waving her arms around, "I mean, who does he even think he is? Riffin is just... so... lame! And cocky, arrogant, egotistical, and a big baby who can't accept that his band sucks!" She punched a trashcan as they walked by it, launching it a yard and dumping all of its contents onto the street.

"Chill, Care," Larry patted her back and had to admit he was fearful of her rage. Usually, after a fight with Corey, she would growl for a few minutes and then focus on something different or just forget about it. Instead, the entire walk home was spent with her ranting about the guy and the fight and all of Grojband. Larry wanted to comfort her, but his mind kept on the idea of how close Carrie had been with Corey earlier. On one hand, it made him a little angry that the other guy was getting so personal, but on the other hand he found it... intriguing? As much as he hated Corey, the image in his head left a feeling in his stomach that he'd have to talk to Laney about later. For now, he focused on calming Carrie down before she smashed another trashcan.

Meanwhile, Corey was still going off about the encounter, too. "She thinks she's all that! And that her stupid band actually knows how to play a single note! Beff is such a cocky, dumb chick and she seriously needs to back off before I knock her teeth out!" He knocked his fist against the stage for the sixth time; the rest of the band swore he was going to end up breaking through it if he did it anymore.

By this time, the crew was already in the garage and lounging around. Kin and Kon both seemed fairly terrified with Corey's rage and kept to themselves most of the time. Laney was scared, but she was the only one who had the guts to pat the guy's back. "Chill, Core. Who cares what her deal is?" 

He started going off about just what her deal actually was, throwing around more insults that surprised the whole group with how good they were. Laney continued to rub his back, but she was thinking the situation over differently. The two had been awfully close, closer than she was with him on a normal basis. Carrie being so personal had her a tad annoyed, but Laney also found it... intriguing? There was no doubt in her mind how much she disliked The Newmans and their entire group (save for her male counterpart), but the image of the fight had left a feeling with her. Larry would definitely get to hear about that over the phone, but right now the bass player had to focus on keeping Corey calmed down.

Later, after what seemed like forever had gone by and Laney had left Corey's garage to return to her own bed, her phone began to buzz. 

"I finally got her to calm down and I guess I'm staying the night because the entire process took all of three hours," Larry sighed heavily into the receiver.

She rolled her eyes, "We both know you don't mind spending the night at Carrie's house." He laughed, likely nodding his head and covering his mouth so he wasn't heard. Laney interrupted, "Anyway, we seriously need to talk about... y'know, their fight."

"God," was all he said at first. She began thinking about the quarrel again and she imagined he was doing the same thing. How close the two teens had been and how their faces were nearly up against each other's and all the anger that flooded the atmosphere. "It's, just, so weird, y'know? I want to hit Corey for being so..."

A voice rang in from the background, "I wanna hit Corey, too!" Laney snickered at Carrie's still present anger.

"Yeah," Larry waited again, presumably for his crush to leave. "Anyway, for being so up in her face. I want to do that, y'know? Like, not yelling at her but being that upfront. That sounds weird. But, yeah, at the same time I thought it was really... um..."

She took a deep breath and muttered, "Hot?" There wasn't even anyone in her room for her to be worried about, but saying the word in reference to the guitarists together seemed forbidden. 

"Exactly. I was going to say intriguing, but that pretty much sums it up, too." Larry sighed and she could tell he was biting his lip, "I have to go soon to pick out a movie for me and Care."

Laney spoke quickly, "We have to get them to do that again. Fight and stuff."

"You really want to see it again? Since when did you even like girls?" He scoffed into the receiver.

She scoffed back, "Since when did you even like guys?"

"Okay, good point. I'll text you about it later. Right now, I have a movie to watch with Care. Night, Laney." The phone let out a high pitched tone to signify that he had hung up before she even got to say her goodbye. How annoying.

Larry had his eyes on the television and Laney was staring up at the ceiling, practically all the way across town from each other, but still thinking of ways how they could possibly get their two leads to meet again as soon as possible. They both wanted to run and find the Peaceville Newspaper, to try and find a gig in the middle of town they could both run for. Today was a fluke that they met in the park, but there was no way Corey and Carrie were about to accidentally meet again if they could help it. The two redheads minds kept to the idea, even if Carrie was drooling on Larry's shoulder in her slumber and Laney's head was getting dizzy as she hung off her bed. 

They had to make it happen again.


	2. Chapter 2

Larry had woken up with a shirt partly covered in drool he knew belonged to Carrie, but the guitarist had seemingly disappeared from her room. Groggily, he rubbed his eyes and stood up to find his way to the bathroom and then to find the missing girl. There were sounds coming from the kitchen down the hall, which indicated just where she was, but he went the opposite way and looked up at the mirror. At the sight of his hair, Larry groaned and began wetting down his hair to make it appear at least partly neat. Not to mention, he looked like he hadn't even slept at all and overall appeared a mess. The showered seemed favorable, but it would probably come off as rude if he just started running it.

Instead, the bass player dragged himself to the kitchen and raised his eyebrows at the sight of Carrie attempting to poor the last bit of cereal into an already overfilling bowl. The contents had already spilled a little over the sides and onto the table, but the guitarist was determined to get the last few spoonfuls. He glanced over at the clock and was more shocked by the fact that it was nearly noon - what time had they gone to bed? The movie was only an hour and a half long... it had to have been around 2:00 AM, yet here they were. Half the day wasted and he was covered in a wet shirt.

Carrie looked back at him and smiled, her make-up washed off and her hat missing somewhere. "Hey, Larrs," she turned back to her cereal and scooped up the spilled over pieces and stacked them on top of the rest. "About time you woke up. I've been up for, like, an hour."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that's definitely not true. This drool on my shirt wouldn't be nearly as wet as it is right now." She grinned and shrugged, seemingly embarrassed. Larry rolled his eyes again and turned away, but smiled because she was unrealistically cute. Besides, the coffee pot was calling to him and he could use some caffeination. 

"I'll grab a shirt for you later," Carrie told him, then went about slowly filling her bowl with milk and making sure it didn't flood the cereal onto the table. He sipped from his coffee cup and wondered if she'd give him one of her shirts or one of Mina's. The older Beff wasn't bad at all, but he'd prefer not to have an orange vest on him for the walk home. Of course, he wouldn't mind wearing Carrie's shirt for obvious reasons, either. 

He had forgotten to respond, but the silence - save for Carrie's chewing - was comfortable and Larry had no want to disturb it quite yet. Maybe, in a bit, he'd ask if he could possibly shower before having to walk home. The Beff's might have some hairspray in their cabinets that he could use on his mop of a hairdo, Larry would be more than humiliated to walk outside with how he looked. 

The coffee pot was half drained by the time he was done with it and the guitarist at the table was slurping at the left over milk in her bowl. "Would you mind if I grabbed a shower, Care?" he asked, setting his cup in the sink.

"Oh, sure," she grinned at him and nodded quickly. Carrie set her bowl on the counter and added, "Let me grab your shirt, first." He followed her back to her room, passing a judging Mina in the hallway. Like he had thought earlier, the older Beff wasn't bad at all, but she didn't particularly care for her younger sister having boys over. Even if said sister was sixteen-years-old and more than able to make her own decisions. Regardless, he grinned and wiggled his fingers at her in a greeting.

Larry hid his satisfaction when Carrie threw one of her shirts at him. It wasn't hard to do when she offered, "I may even have a bra in your size, gal." 

"Yeah, hilarious. I'm going to go shower." His eyes rolled and he went off back to the bathroom. Again, he stopped by the mirror after shutting the door and looked at himself. The black and white shirt in his hand reminded him of another guitarist on the opposite side of town, the same one who had engaged Carrie in a near fist fight yesterday.

How could he have forgotten that? His phone was still on her dresser, but he made a note to grab it as soon as his hair didn't look like a tornado had seen it and he smelled better.

 

In uptown Peaceville, Laney had been up for more than a few hours. Corey and her were sitting on the couch while they waited for the twins to show up; the guitarist was lazily tuning his instrument while the redhead scanned a magazine. For the most part, the two were sitting in a comfortable silence that was interrupted only occasionally by Corey's strumming. In her paper, Laney read a small tidbit regarding this celebrity's latest love triangle and she began to wonder if there was something such as a love rectangle. Then again, she was curious as to when geometry made it's way into categories of affection shared between people. Who would describe a relationship as square, anyway?

Corey intruded her thinking by saying, "I think we should crush The Newmans in the most radical, rock n' roll way possible." By the opposing band, he had really only meant Carrie, which was something she picked up on easily.

"Totally, Core," Laney smiled from behind her magazine. "I'll check after practice for any gigs we can get a hold of. Are you still angry with Carrie?" she inquired, trying to feign disinterest in his response. If he knew that she wanted another fight to occur, he would probably get angry with her, too.

He set down his guitar and folded his arms, scowling at the opposite end of the garage as if the enemy guitarist's face was there. "Duh, Lanes. She's dissing the band all the time and I can't concentrate with her dumbness in my brain." Corey got up and began pacing, the way he does when he's distracted or thinking. Laney raised her eyebrows as he began to knock on his head in a rhythm, definitely trying to conjure up some way to beat Carrie at something musical. "Y'know," he grinned, suddenly stopping. "We don't really need to get a gig to do that, right? We could, like, just host our own little battle of the bands and cream them like we do every time!"

On that note, both the Kujira twins rolled up the garage door and yelled happily, "We're here!" Kon and Kin were wearing some new mood rings, but before Laney could point them out and the twins could explain the fashion statement, Corey budded in.

"Good! I just came up with a plan for our next show," he raised his eyebrows and gave a confident grin to the rest of the band. "Laney already knows about it, but the idea is to invite The Newmans for a wicked battle of the bands. We can post flyers around town like we did that one time with the holograms." Kin made a sour face at that memory, remembering his old inventions compared to the newest ones. Without paying attention, Corey went on, "Then, in front of the town, we rock their socks off and prove that Carrie - I mean, The Newmans, need to shut their big mouths!" He spread out his arms at the finish of the explanation, waiting for feedback.

Kon grinned widely, "That would be totally killer, Corey!" Kin nodded along with his statement, smiling just as well.

"It would be cool," Laney added in, "But, how do we know they're even going to accept the invite? It's not like you can just flat out say they're going to get embarrassed in front of the entire town and expect them to come." She raised her eyebrow and frowned, but was more than confident that Corey had another plan to get that to work, too. She was expecting to have to figure out a plan to get the two blue haired teens fighting again, but this would work just as well.

"I was going to tell them just that," he admitted, "But, I can come up with something else along the way. I'll tell Trina to text Mina to tell Carrie about it." With that, Corey raced up the stairs to bug his sister. It was only a matter of minutes before screaming and odd spitting noises came from the upstairs, but with a loud thunk and a door slam, Corey walked out with a confident smile and gave the group a thumbs up.

 

The text did send through, but Trina had spent a good three paragraphs complaining about how stupid her brother was and how loud and annoying the music was until actually getting to the point of the message. Mina read it quickly and walked outside of her own room to talk to her sister, who had invited the rest of her friends over for a musical session that Mina didn't mind nearly as much as Trina did. In fact, the soft noises coming from outside sounded pretty good.

"Uh, Carrie?" Mina put her head outside the patio door, spying The Newmans playing a game of what appeared to be fifty-two pick-up with only seventeen cards. The soft noises had actually been coming from the redheaded boy, who was seeming to ignore the game.

The younger sister raised her head and grinned, "Yeah, sis?"

"I just forwarded you a text. Er, part of one anyway. I cut out all the yelling bits. It's from Trina's brother." Somewhat nervously, Mina glanced about her sister's group of friends and shut the patio door. Why she had to have such rowdy companions she would never know.

Kim looked to her twin and Larry, "What would Corey want to do with us? Is it because of that fit he threw yesterday?" she inquired.

Konnie shrugged, "Probably." She picked up the last card on the ground and showed it to her sister, enthusiastic that she had picked up the two of diamonds before anyone else. The game of fifty-two pick-up with seventeen cards was officially concluded and Konnie was the all star champion.

The bass player watched as Carrie grabbed her phone and scanned over the newest message. He was curious as to what Corey had to say at this point, especially when him and Laney had yet to initiate anything between the two yet. Maybe he was just throwing around more insults? The likelihood of him apologizing was nonexistent, so Larry settled on thinking that Grojband's lead had resorted to sending trash talk over the phone now.

"So," Carrie announced, "I guess Garboj band wants to have a battle of the bands."

He stared at her phone in a sudden amount of confusion. A battle of the bands? Was that Laney's idea? Or was Corey doing this without being prompted by her? He bit his lip while Carrie seemed to contemplate the idea, tapping her foot in thought. Regardless of who's plan it was, it would bring the two guitarists closer to another feud similar to the one they had held yesterday. He probably should feel guilty about wanting to see Carrie in another fight, but at the same time he honestly didn't care. It's not like anyone was getting hurt.

Kim leaned in and asked, "So, Carrie, are you going to do it?" The Kagami twins more than excited at the prospect, but whether or not it was because they got to hang out with their counterparts or crush their counterparts was hard to tell.

Finally, Carrie decided, "Maybe. I think I'm going to go and talk to Corey before I make anything final." The guitarist reopened the patio door and yelled for Mina to please text back Trina to alert the other blue haired teenager that the two were going to outside of Belchie's to discuss the guidelines of the event. "I'll start over there now, it always looks cool when you're the first person there," she grinned.

"Can I come?" Larry inquired, trying to appear nonchalant rather than hopeful. He assumed Laney had already asked the same question, probably receiving a yes. In the same fashion, Carrie nodded her head positively and he smiled.

"You girls," she pointed her fingers at Kim and Konnie, "Do you think you can handle holding down the Beff house?"

Larry snickered as the two twins stood up in a sudden salute, being as overdramatic as always. Konnie just about knocked over her shorter sister by throwing her arms out in exclamation, "You bet we can, Carrie!"

 

Much to Carrie's dismay, the guitarist and bassist from Grojband were already at Belchie's with milkshakes and a pre-prepared glare from Corey. Larry gave a small wave to Laney, barely raising his hand so the teen standing beside him wouldn't notice the friendly gesture. Laney smiled at him, but looked over at Carrie as she walked to their table and leaned on it. Corey took an obnoxiously loud slurp from his banana milkshake, still glaring at the fellow guitarist, who was returning the stare wholeheartedly.

Again, Larry and Laney glanced at each other. Were the two going to start fighting again? They're not as close as they were before, with Corey sitting down, but their faces were nearly touching. The leader of Grojband was first to break the stare and drink from his smoothie, then asking, "So, are you in?" Another unreasonably loud slurp ensued the question.

The tension was obvious, but surrounding customers paid no attention to the group of teenagers in their undisturbed silence. Laney bit her lip and continued to glance between both Corey and Carrie, waiting for the latter to pronounce some insults and to get another fight riled up. Likewise, Larry was also staring at the two and was hoping for Corey to say something stupid and cause a scene. The guitarists seemed more than tempted, squinting at each other in a rare case of sitting still for once. "Yeah," the two redheads immediately put their gaze on Carrie. "I'm in; in to crush your sorry butt."

Corey stood up suddenly and ignored his chair falling to the floor. Taking a step forward, the two redheads held their breath as the stare down was broken and they were close and suddenly it was almost an exact sequel to yesterday.

Laney bit down on her first lightly and, noticing the small motion, Carrie glanced over at her. At first, Corey thought it had to have been some kind of quiet mention that his counterpart was threatening his bass player as well, so he looked down at Larry. In the brief moment of eye contact between the four of them, both of the guitarists realized that something was slightly off about the way their two companions were watching. Neither of the two had really spoken since the arrival, but oddest of all was how stirred they looked. Almost as if they were excited and anxious to see what happened next. 

Corey, always having been dense, only noticed Larry's blush and settled with being confused, but Carrie figured there had to be something more going on than just worry for the two of them fighting. "Corey?" she asked, grinning, "Can I talk to you - one on one - for just a second?"

He scrunched up his face in more confusion, looking over at Laney before nodding his head. The two redheads caught each other's eye and shrugged, watching their leads walk off only a few yards.

"Don't tell me you're trying to do something sneaky," Corey squinted, jabbing a finger in her shoulder. He had wanted to tell her that anything she had to say could be said in front of Lanes, but he had a gut feeling that it'd be better if he had just rolled with it. He was never able to tell what was going through this girl's mind.

She smiled impishly, "You saw those two, right?"

He crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow in judgement. "Yeah, so?"

"I think our two buddies are planning something. I mean, Larry would definitely have backed me up with some insults and I'm willing to bet Laney would have done the same, right? Plus, look at their faces." Carrie gestured to the two, whom were watching intently and attempting to make out their words. "I think something is up."

Corey rolled his eyes and criticized, "What could they possibly be up to?" More so, he questioned what Laney could be up to. Then again, what was she doing making plans with Larry? And why hadn't he heard about it until now? Corey furrowed his brow in another bout of frustration, deciding to deal with that later.

Carrie grabbed the neck of his shirt. "I don't know, Riffin," she announced loudly, looking through the corner of her eyes at the two still sitting at the table. More quietly, Carrie stated, "Maybe they like seeing us close." She tugged him nearer, almost to the point of their chests touching and his face was, in his opinion, far too close to hers. "I've got a crazy plan that just might work, Corey. You in?" 

"What are they even saying?" Larry hissed, leaning in close to Laney. The two were definitely talking and he was even more curious now that Carrie was making it more physical. It was hard to understand it all at once, even after seeing it for the second time. He definitely liked Carrie, but seeing her with the enemy was also terribly exciting and he had a hard time figuring out his feelings towards Corey. There was certain hatred, but...

Laney whispered back, "I'm pretty sure they're talking about the battle..."

The two both stopped their chatting and their trains of thought as they watched both the two guitarists' bickering came to an abrupt end with the two of them locking lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for this nonsense.


	3. Chapter 3

The battle of the bands was cancelled for multiple reasons. A majority of which were crazy, on the spot excuses that Corey came up to hide the situations from Kin and Kon. He also made up an unrealistic explanation to the newest black eye he was sporting, still too ashamed to admit he had received it from The Newman's bass player. Plus, the keyboardist and the drummer didn't need to know he had kissed the enemy team. Laney backed him up on whatever crazy words left his mouth, but after the Kujira twins were convinced and had left for home, she was snickering every time he opened his mouth. 

Corey groaned and attempted to be nonchalant by playing his guitar, but after awhile it was obvious he was getting annoyed with her. "What's so funny, guy?" he hissed, pouting while he strummed. Overall, despite his big physic and strong features, he looked like an upset child.

"You got beat up by Larry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air before bursting out into more giggles. "He gave you a black eye and he's, like, barely five feet tall, dude."

His pout didn't get any smaller and he was certainly in a bad mood about it. Laney wanted to ask why he kissed Carrie in the first place, but decided that asking him right now would be a pretty poor decision. However, the other lead had left her phone number on the table before she dragged Larry away from the other guitarist. She figured it must have been for Corey, but she took the paper regardless. Glancing at the guitarist beside her, Laney decided that he wouldn't mind being left alone to lick his wounds and think over today.

She had to talk over his strumming, "I think I'll be on my way. You going to be okay, Core?" Regardless of how curious she was, if Corey wanted her to stick around, she would. Despite the confusion of the day, her feelings were still very true and she wasn't about to abandon him if he wanted her to stick around.

But, she was right about him wanting to be alone. "No, I'll be fine. Night, Lanes," he gave her a small smile to show he wasn't that upset. At least, not with her. He more than likely still wanted to punch Larry's teeth out. Laney bid him good night and went out the backdoor, immediately opening up her phone.

Firstly, Laney sent a text to her counterpart. The boy was more than angry when Carrie drug him away and she figured that his temper had been carried all the way home. She asked if he was doing okay and that they'd get together tomorrow. After that, she input Carrie's digits and debated on what to do next. Should she call her? Or text her? Laney was already walking in the direction of the Beff's house, having only a slight clue of where it was after a few lyric adventures with Corey's sister. The redhead bit her lip and decided that calling would probably be the best option here. 

Carrie didn't pick up until the third ring, "Hello?"

Unlike Corey, this guitarist sounded relaxed and happy. Laney squinted into the darkness, wondering if perhaps the kiss was all her doing instead of a spontaneous trick on Corey's part. Regardless, she answered, "Hey, this is Laney. I noticed you left your phone number on the table at Belchie's?"

A soft laugh rang through the phone, "I knew you'd see that! Why'd you ring?"

"Well," Laney started, "I'm curious about why, uh, everything happened. You know, before Larry punched Corey in the face and stuff." She heard Carrie snicker and smirked herself.

"How about you come over and we can chat about it?" The smile on the lead's face was evident just in the sound of her voice.

Laney hummed into the phone, "Sounds like a deal. What's your house number?"

Carrie listed out some gibberish that the bassist hardly caught but was able to figure out on her way. It took two left turns and four city blocks to get to the Beff house; the entire way, Laney was questioning the guitarist's plans and her objectives here. She knew the two leads had no romantic feelings towards each other at all, so the very idea of them really wanting to kiss was out of the question. So, Laney wondered, why did they? 

The answer didn't hit her the entire way there and it definitely didn't hit her when she knocked on the door. It opened nearly instantly, Laney being greeted by a girl who was practically an entire head taller than her. Carrie was all smiles and the bassist couldn't help but do the same, walking into a warm house that smelled like nail polish and cat. She couldn't see the pet right yet, but Laney made a mental note to find it and scratch behind its ears after she talked with the guitar player for awhile. 

"Welcome to the Beff abode," Carrie swung her arms out wide, as if the house was an extravagant castle. "You can take your shoes off over there," she pointed at a mat that was covered in what Laney could assume to be years of mud and dirt. 

She set her boots right next to the mess. "So, I wanted to talk about today and stuff. Did you manage to calm down Larry?" Laney asked, curious if her friend was still ready to tussle or had taken a breather for the night.

The taller girl made a ridiculous noise and rolled her eyes, "No. He didn't really want to talk to me. I did think it was super cool that he nearly knocked out Corey. But, nah, I wasn't about to get him to chill and he went home angry. I guess he'll be cooler tomorrow. I hope so, anyway." She shrugged, leading the redhead into a living room that had a fluffy orange cat on the couch. Laney walked over to it and began to pet its head, grinning at its purrs.

"You know he has a thing for you, right?" she questioned. After today's events, she figured it would have to be obvious at this point. And there is no way someone could be that dense.

Carrie shrugged again, sitting next to the cat and watching her visitor. "Kind of? I mean, I already had a clue, but I wasn't too sure until today. I'll probably do something about that later." She put on a face of concentration, staring momentarily at a blank television before shrugging again. "But, that later can wait. So, what else did you want to talk about? You didn't come over just for Larrs, right?"

"No, I didn't," Laney admitted. She continued to scratch the cat's back and smiled at the eruption of purrs it emitted. "I was just curious as to why you did it. Kiss Corey, I mean."

The guitarist hummed and hesitated on her answer. The shorter girl didn't mind all that much, see how it simply gave her more time to play with this little ball of fur. Mina had mentioned her cat once before and his notorious bachelor lifestyle... Mr. Purrs? Dr. Purrs? "I saw how you and Larry were watching us. I got a clue and figured you two were up to something and I decided I could stir it up a bit more." Carrie grinned, stroking Dr. Purr's tail lazily.

"Oh," Laney frowned at that. She hadn't figured the two were being overly obvious, but she considered that she wasn't really caring at the time and she doubted Larry did either. Still, for Carrie to pick up that much from apprehensive staring was a bit of a shock. "Got a clue of what, exactly?"

"You two were digging us fighting," she answered bluntly.

Dr. Purrs rubbed his face against Laney's cheek before hopping off of the couch, wandering with his tail in the air, probably in search of Mina or milk or whatever else cats like. The redhead was still reviewing the new information in her head, taking the cat's open spot on the couch next to Carrie. She supposed that the girl wasn't as dense as Corey was at all - even less so if she actually recognized Larry's crush on her. "That does just about sum it up," Laney admitted, having no other response to offer.

"So, why's that? I was certain you were major into Corey," the sentence seemed like it would sound evicting, but the way Carrie said it made it come out as plain curiosity. "Or is it just that you like watching him get all angry?"

Laney giggled in memory of Corey's current mood back at the garage. She figured he was still sulking on the couch, either trying to distract himself with television or playing his guitar. "No, his anger is pretty scary when you're facing it... and I didn't get him to calm down, either. He still wants to beat the crud out of Larry. But, uh, I am into him and stuff. I guess it just..." Explaining it was difficult, she realized. Saying that she found the two fighting to be flat out hot would be embarrassing and it felt that it hardly covered the feeling. "It just looks different? Y'know... I think you're hot, too, but..." Wait, that didn't come out right.

The taller teen began snickering next to her, biting her lip to prevent complete laughter. Laney felt her face heat up as she tried to cover her tracks, "With Corey! I mean, you guys... you're... he's... and stuff!" she threw her arms in the air, feeling embarrassed and too flustered to talk any longer.

"You're funny," Carrie commented. "There's no need to get a red about it, gal. You're just about the same color as your hair. Kind of like a tomato." Laney brought her sleeves up to her face and groaned, still unable to form words without worry of slipping up again. "Oh, come on!" She laughed, lightly tugging at the girl's arm.

The red faced redhead let out more grumbles and set her arms down, trying to ignore that Carrie had yet to let go of her wrist. The touch wasn't strong but it was definitely warm and it helped distract her. It was hard to make eye contact with Carrie again, seeing as the flustered feeling had yet to leave her, but blue eyes distracted her, too. 

"I think you're pretty hot, too," Carrie told her lightheartedly.

Laney continued to stay quiet and rearrange her thoughts, wishing the cat would come over again so she would have something to do with her hands. It felt slightly awkward, sitting there without moving much, until the guitarist motioned to interlace their fingers. Her face, which had just began to cool down, immediately felt hotter and she watched their hands. Did that mean something? Was Carrie just being friendly? What was this girl's plan? Should she go now? Where was the cat? Did Dr. Purrs really enjoy a bachelor life? So many questions that came to a wall of even more questions. Carrie lifted her eyebrows and Laney did the same, mostly out of confusion. At least the guitarist was smiling. 

The bassist hadn't been paying that much attention when she received the first kiss, a quick one on her cheek. Whether it was still a ploy for something, Laney couldn't find it in herself to care that much, so she leaned into the taller girl and set her lips against hers. A bigger smile spread over Carrie's lips and the redhead had to pull away to laugh about how silly she was and how delightfully weird it felt. She couldn't get too far back though, as the guitarist made work to pull the two of them closer and lean back in a way Laney was sure classified as cuddling. She smiled and kisses the blue haired teen again, happy that Carrie was seemingly excited to return the affection. 

All the dramatic moments in movies had Laney believing sharing kisses with someone usually meant a very emotional moment or something. While it was a silly connotation, she was happy to disprove it with the bubbly feeling she had. Even if the taller girl was supposed to be the enemy, cuddling and sharing quick kisses was extremely fun. Sure, it wasn't as romantic as sharing a kiss in the rain or anything very special, but embracing Carrie in the warm house with cat hair on her sweater was something she enjoyed. When the guitarist began to bite playfully at her lips, it was no surprise that Laney got too preoccupied to notice her phone vibrating on the floor. 

 

He had left his garage nearly an hour ago, texting Laney of the adventure he was about to go on, and went on the search for the bass player's house. Laney had asked him to walk with her there a few times, so the general location was in his brain, but it took longer than he had thought it would to actual arrive at the front steps. There was only one light on in the house, one Corey assumed would have to be his. Not so quietly, he knocked on the door and took a step back, waiting to see if the small redhead was going to come out filled with previous annoyance or be scared half to death by an angry guy showing up at his door. 

It took a minute, but the door did open. The atmosphere thickened negatively and Larry glared at the guitarist, quietly closing the door behind him and crossing his arms. Carrie's entire plan had focused on getting back at the two in a fun, flirty way, but Corey hadn't ever been and was, especially now, not keen on the plan at all. He had never really cared for Larry and he definitely didn't want to get him flustered now; all he wanted to do was hit him twice as hard and leave him to deal with it. Or cry to his parents about it, whichever he chose to do. Corey had never noticed before, but the kid had such a punchable face it was unreal.

Corey raised his eyebrows, "You should probably be a little more worried than that, Nepp. Right now, I'd be more than happy to deliver this fist right between your teeth." Never one to stop himself from acting on random impulses, it took a lot more self control than he ever thought he had not to deliver the punch right there and then and just leave. 

"Shut it, Riffin," he pronounced the name in the same way someone might say the word manure. "I'd be more than happy to deliver this fist," Larry pointed at his own hand and gave the teen a sarcastic smile, "Right into your other eye. It's actually pretty satisfying to see you looking all wounded." He grinned in genuine amusement, as if the black eye Corey was sporting was more than just a lucky hit.

Larry was really happy with his work, actually. For someone constantly labeled as small and weak, it was a huge achievement to punch someone like Corey Riffin and leave a mark. He even found it a little funny that the guitarist was so worked up over it, a sign that he was embarrassed by the event and that was only more for Larry to put on a pedestal. The confidence high he was riding could last a lifetime or it could have, until Corey slammed him against the front door of his house. Upon impact, the faith he had had in himself vanished and suddenly he was tad more frightened of Corey than he would like to admit.

"Try and talk to me like that, Larry," he growled, shoving his face close to the other teen's. "You call this a wound, dude? I could literally punch you into an oblivion and you should give me one good reason why I shouldn't right now." Corey pulled his arm back, fist clenched and ready to send it swinging.

Usually, Larry at three girls who would get in the way of an ordeal like this and he wouldn't have to worry about being injured. Now, alone outside of his house in the dark with a much bigger guy ready to sock him good, he had no one to turn to and the bassist was scared out of his wits. He didn't even have a good reason for Corey not to hit him. It's not as if Larry would possibly be able to get up afterwards, so he couldn't just hope for the worst and expect to deal with it. Shaking slightly and taking a deep breath, Larry admitted, "I don't have a good reason." He bit his lip and watched Corey through terrified eyes, hoping honesty would get him somewhere.

"That's what I thought." Apparently, the truth wasn't about to get him anywhere. Watching Corey's arm begin to move, Larry shut his eyes tight and ignored the tears that were beginning to come. When the punch didn't come for a solid minute, he opened them again and continued to shake at the sight of the taller teen.

Corey watched the bass player's eyes and cracked a grin at the sight of how scared he looked. Soon enough, his smile turned into a collection of snickering and he began laughing loudly in Larry's face. Seeing him look absolutely petrified after having acting so tough was more than hilarious and the guitarist had to drop the small teen in order to collect himself before he fell over from laughing so hard. Needless to say, Larry felt ever more insulted and glared back at him again. Fear was still present, but annoyance was coming back even faster.

The guitarist was trying to talk through his fits of laughter, "You should have seen your face!" He had his hand spread over his chest and took deep breaths before glancing over at the bassist and beginning to act up again. "You looked so stupid! Such a baby!"

"I get the idea!" Larry pointed out, urging the guy to just shut up.

"I don't think you do, though!" He continued to howl and leaned against the front door to stop himself from falling over. Larry was worried his parents might hear, but the factor didn't seem to bother Corey at all. "You looked so freaking scared!" he continued to say, practically hysterical with laughter.

The bass player had more than a few words he would like to share, but he was still afraid Corey would turn and nearly punch him again. Wiping the tears away from his eyes and rubbing his hands on his shirt, Larry asked, "Are you done, now?"

It took time, but the laughing began to turn into chuckles and then into small snickering. "I swear," Corey started and already the redhead was rolling his eyes, "you looked so terrified. It was like spooking a baby in the ultimate game of peek-a-boo."

"Great!" Larry threw his hands in the air in mock celebration. "I'm so, so happy I could entertain you with being rightfully scared. And, hey, look at that nice sidewalk leading away from my house. How about you, y'know, take it? Away from here? Huh, Riffin? Seems like a pretty good plan, am I right?" he urged, pointing at the road.

He snickered, "Aw, you're so cute when you want me out of your obnoxiously red hair."

Despite still wanting to both punch and run away from Corey, the bass player found himself blushing. It was stupid and he felt dumb for it. His hate was definite and it confused him beyond his wits as to why he was even remotely attracted to the guitarist. To say the least, Larry was dumbstruck and could only come up with, "You'd be a lot cuter out of my obnoxiously red hair."

"I'm cute?" Corey grinned.

He needed to get this guy out of here. In the past ten minutes, Larry had been angry, terrified, slightly aroused, and was left in a combination of all three. Being outside with this egotistical jerk was quickly becoming an old seen and he just wanted to go inside and text somebody to get all of these weird feelings out of his head. Then again, who was he going to tell about being heated up over Corey Riffin? Laney had an idea, but she would doubtlessly make fun of him for it. And Carrie would become even more blind to his crush if she found out. Plus, he'd rather die than let Kim and Konnie have the possibility to gossip about it.

"Kind of quiet there, bud," Corey interrupted, knocking on his head lightly. The agitation he previously held had faded away after seeing Larry truly regret messing with him. Now, he was just messing with him before he went home and gloated about it to Laney over the phone. "Did I break your brain?" he asked.

Larry broke away from his train of thought and pushed the guitarist's hand away. "No, you didn't. I was thinking. Something you don't do all that often," he pointed out.

He let out a short laugh, "Sounds like something Laney would say!"

"Fantastic." The redhead rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, more than ready to be rid of the company he had. "Can you go now?"

Of course, Corey had another smart reply and the bassist had to counter it with one of his own. The taller teen was more than amused by the whole situation and was overly enjoyed with annoying Larry, dragging out the conversation as long as possible. It ended only when the guitarist took it a step to far and actually went with Carrie's plan and kissed the agitated teen on the cheek. Annoyed and flustered, Larry went inside his house and slammed the door. At the sound of the locks turning, Corey began to laugh again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp


End file.
